Sustainability Blog - The Grid

Bloomberg BNA -- Microsoft Corp. has left the American Legislative Exchange Council because of concerns about the lobbying group's opposition to renewable energy, a coalition of activist investor groups said.

The Sustainability Group and Walden Asset Management, asset management companies that describe themselves as focused on sustainable investing, said Microsoft confirmed in e-mails that it's no longer a part of ALEC after the groups pressed the company to abandon it.

Bloomberg BNA -- Earthquakes and tremors from hydraulic fracturing shake the ground less than naturally occurring earthquakes of the same magnitude, therefore causing less damage, according to new U.S. Geological Survey research.

USGS seismologist Susan Hough analyzed 11 induced earthquakes in the central and eastern United States from 2011-2013, evaluating the ground tremors these events generated.

Sweaty subway brush-ups, the smell of garbage broth brewing in gutters, and most of all the heat -- heat that radiates from everywhere and escapes to nowhere. That’s what New York typically feels like in August. It’s a time when the only people walking the streets on weekends are the tourists and the overworked; everyone else skips town or stays home.

There’s a name for this particular municipal affront: urban heat islands. Asphalt and buildings absorb and radiate heat, and the lack of greenery means less shade and evaporative cooling. At its worst, New York can register 20 degrees Fahrenheit hotter than nearby rural areas (2.7 degrees hotter on average), according to a new report by nonprofit research group Climate Central.

If you live in California, Australia or Scandinavia, 2014 may feel like the hottest year on record. Not quite; on a global scale, it’s “only” third-hottest.

The global average surface temperature for January through July was 1.2 degrees Fahrenheit (0.66 degrees Celsius) above the 20th century average, tying with 2002 as the third warmest in records going back to 1880, according to National Climatic Data Center data released today.

If hot thermometers actually exploded like they do in cartoons, there would be a lot of mercury to clean up in California right now.

The California heat this year is like nothing ever seen, with records that go back to 1895. The chart below shows average year-to-date temperatures in the state from January through July for each year. The orange line shows the trend rising 0.2 degrees Fahrenheit per decade.

Bloomberg BNA -- In stark contrast to their party's public stance on Capitol Hill, many Republicans privately acknowledge the scientific consensus that human activity is at least partially responsible for climate change and recognize the need to address the problem.

However, they see little political benefit to speaking out on the issue, since congressional action is probably years away, according to former congressmen, former congressional aides and other sources.

The Grid Contributors

Nations and companies face rising competition for strategic resources — energy, food, water, materials — and the technologies that make best use of them. That's sustainability. It's about the 21st-century race for wealth, health and long-term security, across the global grid.

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